- Joined
- Sep 15, 2021
- Messages
- 2,254
- Reaction score
- 3,755
Recently, I watched some modern matches with my wife and daughter, and we had a lot of fun, so it got me thinking about the stuff I watched in the 80's as a kid. We were poor so no pay-per-views.
Anyway, I sat down a couple nights ago and watched the original Wrestlemania from start to finish.
Mean Gene opened the show by singing the anthem, lol. Took me off-guard right away.
I was shocked the first THREE matches were against jobbers. On a PPV?!?! I guess they did things differently back then.
Star Vs. Jobber (1,2, & 3):
Tito's match was decent, and there was more back-and-forth than undercards usually showed on television, with Tito getting a little roughed up at parts. (Buddy Rose was masked and under a gimmick).
Bundy's match was pure promotion for the future, took them longer to get into the ring than the whole thing lasted. No exaggeration.
Ricky Steamboat is was pretty much exactly how I remembered him; a few "karate-esque" moves away from the opponent followed by some overhand chops and kicks.
Event/Era Theme #1 - The pace was very high for most matches, which is probably why they were much shorter than today.
Brutus Beefcake (apparently, not yet "The Barber") faced off against David Sammartino:
This surprised me because I had no idea Bruno ever had a son in the business! Also, I didn't realize how big Brutus was, that guy looked giant. David looked good in striking exchanges with some quickness, but faded into the background everywhere else. No presence, no charisma, and he mostly just sat back and watched whoever else was in the ring perform. Terrible match, with Brutus just stepping out of the ring every 15 seconds. Old man Bruno was definitely the highlight, easy to see why he was who he was.
JYD vs. The Hammer:
Looking at this match, I realized how much 95% of the wrestlers were defined strictly by gimmick back then. I loved JYD as a kid, but it was clear the chain, the barking, and his punch style was pretty much everything different about him from every other wrestler. Valentine didn't have that. Not saying he was poor at anything, just very generic.
Event/Era Theme #2 - How little individual style was present in moves back in '85. Most guys used the same half-dozen moves as everyone else. It wasn't necessarily bad, just very different from today.
Iron Sheik & Nikita Volkoff vs. US Express (but not called US Express yet ...):
Sheik was the best heel ever. That guy was risking his life with that routine every night he stepped out there, and it was brilliant. You could feel the hate of the crowd pouring out of the screen. This was easily the best match so far, with Rotundo & Windham being very quick and up-tempo with lots of dropkicks, running, and leaping. Windham was another guy who's size surprised me, I didn't remember him being that tall. Sheik was crisp on offense and worked in a nice variety of moves, but his "sell" was poor (typically he bailed so early no contact even happened).
Event/Era Theme #3 - Lots of physical contact back then, it looks like guys ate a lot more shots, and a bit harder, than today. EXCEPT falling out of the ring ... everybody grabbed those ropes for dear life, lol.
Andre the Giant vs. Big John Stud:
First "special" match of the event, no pinfalls, submissions, or count-outs. If Andre can't slam Stud before the time limit, he has to retire. If he does, he receives a duffle bag filled with $15,000. Heenan was great in the promo as Stud's manager. Fairly terrible match. Two guys who's whole purpose is to look massive in the ring mostly standing around.
Wendy Richter Vs. Leilani Kai:
Not going to lie, I skipped this one. Women's wrestling was pretty bad in the 80's, and they would typically only show up right before a PPV, then disappear right after. Sorry. The couple minutes I did watch was a great display of just how good the women have become these days, though.
Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Mr. Wonderful:
Pleasantly surprised by this match! For years I heard endless complaining and expected Mr. T to be horrible, but he actually solid for the little time he spent in the ring alone with an opponent. I think a lot of dedicated fans hated an obvious celeb dropped in to gather bigger PPV numbers, but he was pretty good for the 2 or 3 exchanges he had. Hogan was better than I expected also, but Piper stole the show. As a kid, you never appreciate how important guys like him are. Nice ending, too (a preview of the late 80's & 90's storytelling, IMO), and you get to see Muhammed Ali punch a few people - it looked like he was enjoying it, while Piper & Orndorff looked to really be running from him, lol.
Overall, it wasn't great by today's standards, basically 2 good matches (to be fair, Jobber 1 & 3 were not bad), but it was fun to see some these guys again.
I'm definitely going watch Wrestlemania 2 soon. And maybe Starrcade if I can find a copy.
Anyway, I sat down a couple nights ago and watched the original Wrestlemania from start to finish.
Mean Gene opened the show by singing the anthem, lol. Took me off-guard right away.
I was shocked the first THREE matches were against jobbers. On a PPV?!?! I guess they did things differently back then.
Star Vs. Jobber (1,2, & 3):
Tito's match was decent, and there was more back-and-forth than undercards usually showed on television, with Tito getting a little roughed up at parts. (Buddy Rose was masked and under a gimmick).
Bundy's match was pure promotion for the future, took them longer to get into the ring than the whole thing lasted. No exaggeration.
Ricky Steamboat is was pretty much exactly how I remembered him; a few "karate-esque" moves away from the opponent followed by some overhand chops and kicks.
Event/Era Theme #1 - The pace was very high for most matches, which is probably why they were much shorter than today.
Brutus Beefcake (apparently, not yet "The Barber") faced off against David Sammartino:
This surprised me because I had no idea Bruno ever had a son in the business! Also, I didn't realize how big Brutus was, that guy looked giant. David looked good in striking exchanges with some quickness, but faded into the background everywhere else. No presence, no charisma, and he mostly just sat back and watched whoever else was in the ring perform. Terrible match, with Brutus just stepping out of the ring every 15 seconds. Old man Bruno was definitely the highlight, easy to see why he was who he was.
JYD vs. The Hammer:
Looking at this match, I realized how much 95% of the wrestlers were defined strictly by gimmick back then. I loved JYD as a kid, but it was clear the chain, the barking, and his punch style was pretty much everything different about him from every other wrestler. Valentine didn't have that. Not saying he was poor at anything, just very generic.
Event/Era Theme #2 - How little individual style was present in moves back in '85. Most guys used the same half-dozen moves as everyone else. It wasn't necessarily bad, just very different from today.
Iron Sheik & Nikita Volkoff vs. US Express (but not called US Express yet ...):
Sheik was the best heel ever. That guy was risking his life with that routine every night he stepped out there, and it was brilliant. You could feel the hate of the crowd pouring out of the screen. This was easily the best match so far, with Rotundo & Windham being very quick and up-tempo with lots of dropkicks, running, and leaping. Windham was another guy who's size surprised me, I didn't remember him being that tall. Sheik was crisp on offense and worked in a nice variety of moves, but his "sell" was poor (typically he bailed so early no contact even happened).
Event/Era Theme #3 - Lots of physical contact back then, it looks like guys ate a lot more shots, and a bit harder, than today. EXCEPT falling out of the ring ... everybody grabbed those ropes for dear life, lol.
Andre the Giant vs. Big John Stud:
First "special" match of the event, no pinfalls, submissions, or count-outs. If Andre can't slam Stud before the time limit, he has to retire. If he does, he receives a duffle bag filled with $15,000. Heenan was great in the promo as Stud's manager. Fairly terrible match. Two guys who's whole purpose is to look massive in the ring mostly standing around.
Wendy Richter Vs. Leilani Kai:
Not going to lie, I skipped this one. Women's wrestling was pretty bad in the 80's, and they would typically only show up right before a PPV, then disappear right after. Sorry. The couple minutes I did watch was a great display of just how good the women have become these days, though.
Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Mr. Wonderful:
Pleasantly surprised by this match! For years I heard endless complaining and expected Mr. T to be horrible, but he actually solid for the little time he spent in the ring alone with an opponent. I think a lot of dedicated fans hated an obvious celeb dropped in to gather bigger PPV numbers, but he was pretty good for the 2 or 3 exchanges he had. Hogan was better than I expected also, but Piper stole the show. As a kid, you never appreciate how important guys like him are. Nice ending, too (a preview of the late 80's & 90's storytelling, IMO), and you get to see Muhammed Ali punch a few people - it looked like he was enjoying it, while Piper & Orndorff looked to really be running from him, lol.
Overall, it wasn't great by today's standards, basically 2 good matches (to be fair, Jobber 1 & 3 were not bad), but it was fun to see some these guys again.
I'm definitely going watch Wrestlemania 2 soon. And maybe Starrcade if I can find a copy.
